President Donald Trump spoke out in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying he believes the agency’s recent actions should be even tougher.
In a segment from his “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell asked Trump whether he thought ICE agents had gone too far in certain operations, referencing incidents in Chicago where officers used tear gas and damaged vehicles during arrests.
Trump dismissed those concerns. “No, I think they haven’t gone far enough,” he said. “We’ve been held back by judges liberal judges appointed by Biden and Obama.”
When O’Donnell pressed him on whether he approved of the tactics seen in those videos, Trump stood by them. “Well, yeah, because you have to get the people out,” he said. “You have to look at who they are. Many of them are murderers, many were kicked out of their countries for being criminals.” He went on to emphasize that his administration focused on removing dangerous individuals from the U.S.
O’Donnell reminded him of his campaign pledge to deport “the worst of the worst” those convicted of violent crimes or sexual assault. Trump replied, “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
However, O’Donnell noted that many deportations under his administration included people without violent records such as construction workers, farmhands, domestic workers, and even relatives of military service members.
Trump maintained that his approach to immigration enforcement was necessary to protect American communities and argued that ICE should be given more freedom to act without judicial interference.